Ari Grows a Backbone
by Belleza
Summary: An Okage:Shadow King fanfic. It's been only a few weeks since Ari's adventures ended, and Marlene is already bossing him around! My first fic; please R&R.


Ari Grows a Backbone  
By Belleza  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Okage or its characters (no matter how much I wish I did.) This game belongs to Zenerworks. I think.  
  
Warnings: This is rated PG-13 for naughty words and SLIGHT sexual innuendoes. Hey, it's nothing you don't see at school every day. =P  
  
Later on in the fic there may be some Big Bull bashing and exaggerations in the way he talks just for the purpose of making fun of him. Oh well, no one loves him anyway. Heh heh heh.  
  
This is my first fic (not including a really short dialogue I did about a year ago,) and I think the quality of it is really uneven, and it isn't as humorous as I originally intended it to be. But I am trying my best to do a decent job, so won't you please R&R?  
  
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Chapter One: Ari's longest monologue ever (and this title sucks)  
  
A pair of heels clicked, at steady intervals, against a hard wooden floor. The girl wearing them was dressed like royalty, which was no surprise. As she took small, poised steps, the fragile folds of her dress rippled softly, as did the venerably ornate lace that fell at the buckles of her shoes. Canary daffodils, which were hand-painted down the sides of the dress, contrasted its pure whiteness. Her blonde curls went a bit past her bare shoulders and shone proudly even under dim light; she smiled demurely into a mirror. Although she looked as if she were a model, her expression contracted into a frown after a few seconds. "This won't do!" Dropping any sign of grace she had within the past minute, she walked back into the closest hastily, looking for something more suitable. Of course, this girl could be none other than Marlene.  
  
A boy, meanwhile, came out of his room. He went down the stairs, in a manner too fast to be called walking, yet too slow to be called running; Ari's every motion practically screamed "indecisive and taciturn." Even the customarily "nice" girls in the small village of Tenel were sometimes tempted to take advantage of his overt meekness. Julia was a prime example of this.  
  
Within the town, Ari was often identified not by his own characteristics, but by those of his family: his nice albeit pushy mother, his loose younger sister, his freakish, loud, animal-like grandparents, and his father, who also never shut up. Ari was viewed a mere chump, even after his adventures with Stan, Rosalyn, and the rest of the crew. He never replied to any of his male peers' insults about not being able to get laid, having a weird shadow, looking like a demented, anorexic bug...et cetera. The rude comments had slowed down a bit after Marlene moved in with him, but he still remained the traditional doormat and was treated accordingly.  
  
Upon his arrival downstairs, Ari went into the kitchen and asked his mother, "Um, can I borrow a couple hundred sukel?"  
  
His mother barely glanced at him. "Ari," she said while keeping an eye on what she was cooking, "why do I need to give you mone - oh, I see. Hehehe."  
  
"What are you laughing about...?"  
  
"Well, I know you're a growing, developing boy, but it's still a little embarrassing to ask me for money for personal things even though your hormones are going out of con-"  
  
Ari quickly intervened before his mother jumped to further conclusions and embarrassed him once again. "I'm not going to buy anything out of the ordinary, mom, I just want to pick up some..."  
  
"Girls, I know. You don't have to be ashamed of it," she chuckled. "Here's 1000 sukel. We women like the guys with money, and besides, you need to do it safely. Be back by tomorrow morning, and don't forget about Marlene!"  
  
Ari rolled his eyes and sighed. He was almost disgusted at the way his mom thought he was some kind of playboy, but he had never consented to that type of behavior-unlike Annie, the slut-in-training. Yet, he had gotten more than enough money to do what he wanted, so he shrugged, put it into his pocket, and stepped out of his house.  
  
Two small steps were taken out of the doorway when Marlene burst out. Ari stopped in his tracks. It was true that this "new" Marlene had treated Ari kindly since she took residence in his house, but Ari still had vivid, none-too-fond memories the "old" Marlene. Therefore, Ari remained obedient to her, out of fear she might try to hit or belittle him.  
  
"This dress is simply unbecoming. Ari, help me put on this kimono," she insisted, holding up the flamboyant pink ensemble. "I want to impress your family at dinner tonight, to show my appreciation for their their hospitality. It's been three weeks since I've started to live here, you know."  
  
Although Ari didn't really think that her current outfit was "simply unbecoming" at all, he didn't dare to question her authority over him. He followed her back inside as if he were a dog. A shadowy figure, eyeing Ari's every move from the safe distance of a camouflaging bush, slapped his forehead in frustration. It was Stan. (Duh. Who didn't see THAT coming from a mile away?)  
  
* * *  
  
Marlene bounced into her room, satisfied that she had seemingly found someone to attend to her at her every whim. Ari followed closely behind and didn't say a word as she shut the door behind her. She shoved the kimono into his arms and stepped into the closet. Ari looked down at it, and noticed that it was wrinkled a bit from her rough handling of it. He tried desperately to smooth it out, but since the handle on the doorknob was turning, Ari just squeezed his eyes shut and hoped she wouldn't notice any oddities. Marlene emerged just at the right time, wearing only the thin under-kimono. Ari's eyes still being closed, he could only feel her yanking the kimono back out of his hands.  
  
"You may open your eyes," she instructed. Ari did as she said, and was relieved to see that she had already draped the kimono around herself. Under-kimonos are so thin they're translucent, and a mere glance at the girl would probably mean getting slapped in the face. Again.  
  
Ari positioned himself at her front, and began to overlap the sides. He grabbed the silk at the very top, only for his hand to be swatted away by Marlene's. "You dolt! It has to be folded left over right, not right over left! Must I do EVERYTHING myself!?"  
  
"I don't think you've done ANYTHING by yourself in the past week," Ari thought. He bit his tongue in frustration, so that he wouldn't be tempted to blurt that remark out loud. He had a tendency to let caustic thoughts accumulate in his head, rather than make a public spectacle of his annoyance. He chose to remain silent, as always, and continue with what he was doing.  
  
Twenty-five scoldings, three slaps, and one hour later, Ari was finally finished dressing her. He brought over a full-length mirror after seating Marlene in the best lighting possible, and stood it in front of her. She smiled into it sweetly, and tilted her face a bit to get a better view. Then she looked up at Ari, who smiled back, and her face turned to one of disapproval. She shook her head. "This pink does nothing for me. Fetch that deep green kimono over there, will you?"  
  
Ari couldn't believe what she was saying. "You have got to be kidding me," he thought. He wanted to retort with some kind of witty remark, but the only question he could form at the time was a feeble, "Can...can I take a break from this?"  
  
"All right, fine then," replied Marlene, fanning herself with her hand, "but be back in fifteen minutes. I'll be waiting."  
  
"Okay," Ari said, rushing outside. He longed to get the hell away from Marlene and his hot, stuffy house, even if only for a limited amount of time. Besides, he still hadn't used the money received from his mother earlier to buy what he wanted at the store. Hoping to seize the rare oppurtunity, Ari attempted to run as fast as he could to the villiage gates. This precarious behavior resulted in his falling flat on his face on one and into the sandy dirt. He winced in pain, and after a short time, looked up. All he could see was that a big, black thing was obstructing his path.  
  
He wiped the dirt out of his eyes, and then glanced upwards again. It was certain that he wasn't seeing things. "Stan?"  
  
"Yes, slave, of course it's me. How often do you see a free-standing, evil talking shadow?"  
  
He was right. Ari got up and dusted himself off. "What are you doing here!?"  
  
"Um, well, it's not like I don't have more important things to do. I was just, you know, taking a break from my busy schedule of world domination and...evil things. Um, mwa ha ha! You should feel honored, slave. It's not like I have time anymore to go around greeting weak lowly humans such as yourself, what with all my fear-provoking greatness!"  
  
"...Have you been stalking me?"  
  
Stan's grin faded. "Oh be quiet slave. I was merely looking out for you, and from the looks of it you could use my help."  
  
"Help? Help with what?"  
  
"Is it that oblivious? You need help in getting rid of that prissy bratling! I saw the way she was ordering you around for an hour straight-"  
  
"You watched us for an entire hour!?"  
  
"...That doesn't matter! The point is that you need to tell her to stop bossing you around like that. Don't forget that you're MY slave for life, and I own you!"  
  
"Yeah," said Ari compliantly.  
  
"You can't let a weak woman manipulate you. You have to establish that YOU'RE the dominant one in this relationship!"  
  
Ari contemplated Stan's last statement, and finally responded, "Yes...yes, that's true...I can't stand her whining and bullying!"  
  
"Good! Now go inside, march right up to her, and tell her that you're mad as hell and you're not gonna take it anymore!"  
  
"I...I will!" Ari became instilled with a resurfacing confidence under Stan's guidance, and stormed back into his house. Meeting Marlene in the kitchen, wearing her normal clothes adorned with an apron, he yelled at her. "HEY!"  
  
"Oh, hello, Ari. I'm glad to see that you're back inside earlier than I expected," she said, rudely continuing with the unimportant task of scrubbing inside every insignificant crack of the kitchen, and not looking up at all. "You can go get my dress now. It's the navy blue one on the left side of the closet."  
  
"H..hey," he said, fuming, "who said I was going to get your damn dress, Marlene? You act like this all the time! You think you're SO much better than me, don't you? Well, Miss High-and-Mighty, you can get your OWN dress! From now on, you can pour your OWN tea, and shine your OWN shoes, and get your OWN tampons, and stop relying on me to do your dirty work! Just leave me alone, okay!? I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore! For Listen to me, Marlene! I don't want to be there at your every beck-and-call. I AM NOT YOUR BITCH! There, I said it! And you know what? I'll say it again, just so you can get it through your thick- ass skull: I-A-M-N-O-T-Y-O-U-R-F-U-C-K-I-N-G-B-I-T-C-H!!"  
  
Both Ari and the onlooking Stan were equally astonished by what had just escaped from his mouth. All his pent-up rage had finally come out, after seventeen years of holding it in.  
  
Marlene blinked and glanced up at the panting, hot-faced Ari. She opened her mouth, to make her reply to this colossal outburst of emotions--  
  
"Oops, sorry, I kinda tuned out. Could you repeat that once more, please?"  
  
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Uh...wow. O_O; Poor poor Ari. Well, I hope to continue with chapter 2 as soon as I can. If I get reviews, that is. Comments, criticisms, flames, death threats...all feedback is appreciated! 


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